Alfonsos Pastry Shoppe

As I mentioned in a previous blog, I have been an employee of Alfonso's Pastry Shoppe for the last four years. Today, I would like to take a moment to explain the history of the bakery.
Alfonso's Pastry Shoppe has been open in the bakery business for over forty years. The original owner, Alfonso, came from Italy and decided to open the bakery with the little money he came from Italy with. Him and his wife ran the bakery with few co workers. They did most of the labor themselves. He built the franchise of Alfonso's Pastry Shoppe all on his own with his own ambition. His will to succeed got the business where it is today. Alfonso has three sons, one who is a lawyer and the other two now run the bakery. The original location of the bakery was on Manor Rd., today, there are three stores. The three stores are located on Page Ave. in Tottenville, Amboy Rd. in Eltingville, and the main store on Victory Blvd. in Westerleigh. The two brothers, Anthony and Vincent, have expanded the business even more than their father. In addition to the three stores, Alfonso's has many personal clients and account that they deal with everyday. Some of these accounts include Excelsior Grand, The Lake Club, Harbor Manor, and many more catering halls, bakeries, and diners! Who would have known forty years ago that this business would still even be around, let alone the franchise that it is today!

Vincent & Anthony Campitiello embrace their father’s quest for excellence, the foundation upon which Alfonsos was built. “There is no mystery to our success we grew up in this business & we have a great deal of knowledge & experience. We keep up with the current trends in design & nutrition, and consistently work long hours to give our customers the superior product they expect”.

Role Model

About two months ago I was given a gift. This gift was a "big sister". Part of the process of joining a sorority is receiving a "big". A big is one of the older girls in the sorority who then becomes your big sister. Your big is the one who helps you through the whole process. I myself have become very close with my big. Her name is Jessica and she is one of the greatest people you will ever meet. She is the sweetest person and she would do anything for anybody at anytime, and I mean that. She never thinks of herself. I can talk to her about anything and I know somehow she will help me through any problem I come across. We have only had each other for two months but I look forward to the future. Already we have started the traditions of baking and arts and crafts. At least once a week we have a "date" where we catch up and talk. I could talk to her for hours. Over winter break we are even going to the city to see the Radio City Christmas Show, it should be a nice day. I am an only child and I never had any older figures to look up to for advice, and I now do. This was the best gift I was ever given. I always wanted a big sister, and now I have one, and she is the best one of them all!

Intense

It has been said many times by my friends and family that I am a very intense person, and if you were to be around me long enough, you would probably see the intense side of me. Whenever a bad situation occurs I tend to panic and become intense. I get in an angry mood and begin to yell and scream. People around me say it can be unbearable at times, but it is just one of my personality flaws. I like things to be perfect, and when something goes wrong I go in my intense mode. If something goes wrong I feel the need to take control and make it perfect. I mean I suppose this is a bad flaw at times, but at other times I think it is not that bad because I like things to be perfect.
There are a few ways to fix this problem. I can learn to relax and let everything be or I can realize nothing is ever perfect, that is what life is about, imperfections. It is said that imperfection is beauty.

Memories Never Fade, Bonds Never Sever

In most of my blogs I write about my new college life. My new friends, my new activities, my sorority, I write about it all. Although life has changes these past few months, my old life has not been altered. I have some of the best friends a girl can ask for. I know that if I need anything at anytime, there is a long list of people who would come running, and I would do the same for them.
First there is my neighborhood crew. These girls I have known my whole life and grown up with them. We have done everything together for so long, and I mean everything. We have had the best of times together and the worst of times together, but through it all crew have always been there together. There is Michelle, Alexa, Megan, Christina, and Justine. From age two until now we have been the crazy crew of Westerleigh as we would say. There is never a dull moment. We all went to different elementary schools but all went to the same high school. We grew even closer through the high school years. Now that college is here we are all separated, but nothing has changed. We talk constantly and always make trips and visit each other.
Then there is Priscilla. I met Priscilla in the 6th grade when she moved to Staten Island from Florida. At first we did not get along. Who would have known that in a year we would have grown to become best friends. There was a year of high school where all we had was each other after a stupid fight with the rest of our group of friends. In that year we grew so close that no matter what no one would ever understand each one another better than us. She is my partner in crime. About two years ago Priscilla got a boyfriend, so we were no longer attached at the hip as much, but our relationship has not changed at all. When we were younger we would talk about what we wanted to do with our lives. Her dream was to attend FIT in the city for fashion and become a fashionista in the industry. This year she is living her dream and going to FIT in the city. I cannot explain how proud I am of her!
Then there is Alex. Although I only met Alex four years ago in my freshman year science class, I feel like I have known her forever. She is wild, outspoken, crazy, spontaneous and always down for anything. She is absolutely insane and I love it. She may be a tiny girl, but never mess with her, she is a tough cookie. I would do anything for this girl and the best have times have only begun, there is much more to come!

As you can see I am very blessed to have all of these special people in my life. I would not be the person I am today if it was not for these people. I would do anything for my friends ! It is us until the ends. We are going to be the old ladies causing trouble in the nursing homes!

Autumn Ball '07

This past Tuesday Student Government at St. John's University hosted the Autumn Ball at the Hilton Garden. It was a lovely gathering open to everyone. Mostly Greek Life attended, but anyone could have gone. At the Autumn Ball three female students and three male students from St. John's ran for "Miss Staten Island" and "Joe College". These titles just apply to St. John's, it is not Staten Island wide. I attended the Autumn Ball along with most of my sorority sisters. This ball gave us a chance to all go out, get dressed up, spend time with each other, bond, and have fun. Aside from all of that it gave us a chance to make college memories. We danced the night away and had a great time. My friend Jacquelyn ran for Miss Staten Island and won! We celebrated with her all night. Jacquelyn is also a member of the same sorority as me, so when she won we all went crazy for her! The final song of the night was " O What a Night" which is our sorority song. It gave us a chance to celebrate and a chance to acknowledge our accomplishments, because we do everything together, including winning! We are a family.

Deck the Halls

" 'Tis the season to be jolly Fla la la la la la la la ..."

This song, along with many others, can now be heard on the radio for the holiday season. Although Thanksgiving was only a few days ago, constant reminds of Christmas are around and out in full force. I work at a bakery, which is the busiest during the holiday season. In fact, me, along with every other co- worker, dread the holidays because of the crowds. From Thanksgiving until New Years day it is pure chaos at the bakery. Baking none stop, making bows and holiday ribbon non stop, decorating non-stop, it just does not end! It is exhausting! From gingerbread houses to pies all day is a holiday feast! On top of all of this chaos, we have to listen to Christmas music all day, every day. My first year at the bakery I enjoyed the Christmas music, but now my fourth Christmas at the bakery, I am very sick of Christmas music. They call me the Grinch at work, but my reasoning for hating the music is because they play maybe twenty songs and when they run out they play the same ones over and over again and it gets to me. Another factor that makes me the Grinch is the fact that not only do we work during the holiday season, we work on the actually holidays, and it is not just a few hours, it is a nine hour shift at the least! On Christmas Eve we work from 6AM until 7PM, that is a 13 hour shift on Christmas! Maybe now people will understand why I am known as the Grinch! The only person that gets me through these kind of days is my friend Angela. I have worked with her for all my four years. Ang is three years older than me and I look up to her as if she was my older sister. We have become so close from working together, in fact we went on vacation together this past summer. Despite all the negative aspects of working at the bakery, I have met some amazing people who are very important figures in my life. I cannot see my life without the bakery in it. We have become a family, we share a bond that no one will understand unless you were one of us. I mean we are a family, we even spend the holidays together!

"Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way!"

Give My Regards to Broadway

Tomorrow evening I will be taking a bus with my fellow Discover New York classmates to see the Broadway play, RENT. This will be the second time I am seeing this show. As a requirement of the Discover New York class, every student was to pick a play, one out of four choices, and go see it. They are making us do this so we can first hand become apart of NY culture and travel to the city.

RENT is about a group of Bohemian artists struggling with love, success, and AIDS in the East Village of New York City in the late 80s. The play follows the lives of eight characters who all meet on Christmas and change each other's lives within the next year. The characters are Roger, Mimi, Mark, Maureen, Joanne, Tom Collins, Angel, and Benny. Roger is a songwriter who has shut out the world ever since his girlfriend committed suicide upon learning she was HIV positive. Roger is also HIV positive because of his girlfriend. Rogers's new love Mimi who is also HIV positive and a drug addict. Roger's roommate Mark who is a struggling filmmaker, his ex-girlfriend Maureen who left him to be with a woman. Joanne, a lawyer, Maureen's new girlfriend. Tom Collins, an HIV-positive college professor, Collins's lover, Angel, a transvestite with AIDS, and Benny, who is the former roommate to Roger, Mark, Collins, and Maureen and now owner of the building.

Although the plot sounds crazy and hard to keep track of, this is one of the most amazing shows I have seen on Broadway. I guess you just have to see it to love and understand it.